Season's open. And if there's one Northland company that's been getting New Zealand farmers ready for whatever the land throws at them — for more than fifty years — it's Trax Equipment.

There's a room at the Ag-Tech Industries factory in Dargaville that tells a story better than words can. Old leather saddles, worn smooth by decades of hard work. Horse bits and bridles hanging on the walls. A rusted cowbell sitting on a bench that reads Ring for Service. It's part museum, part reminder — of where this business came from, and how far it's travelled.

The Trax story begins in the 1970s, when founder Vernon Suckling started a business called Ranchwear. The idea was simple: farmers needed good gear, and Vernon was going to make it. He crafted canvas equipment and beautifully hand-stitched leather saddles — the kind that took real skill and real time, and that farmers trusted to last. It was honest, practical work, made right here in New Zealand for New Zealand conditions.

But farming doesn't stand still. And neither did Vernon.

When the horses handed over the keys

By the late 1980s and into the 1990s, something was changing on farms across the country. The ATV — and soon after, the UTV — was arriving on the scene. The Kawasaki Mule 1000 was one of the first to show up in any numbers, and farmers quickly worked out that a side-by-side could cover ground, carry gear and handle terrain that would have taken a horse and rider twice as long.

Vernon saw it coming. When the market shifted, so did Ranchwear. The saddle room gave way to a new kind of problem-solving: how do you make these new machines actually work for a New Zealand farmer? The first answer was a roof and a windscreen. Something to keep the rain off. Something that would make a long day on the farm a bit more bearable.

It sounds simple. But getting the fit right, for every make and model, on a machine that's being bounced over rough ground in all weather — that takes engineering. And that's what Trax became known for.

Built here. For whatever NZ throws at it.

As the side-by-side market grew, so did the range. Honda, Yamaha, Polaris, CF Moto — every new model that landed on New Zealand shores meant a new set of measurements, a new design challenge. The team at the Dargaville factory met every one of them. Today, if you've

got a side-by-side or quad working on your farm, there's a very good chance Trax makes something for it.

Walk through the factory floor now and you'll see the full picture. Roofs, windscreens, and side door panels cut and fitted by hand. Stock crates and deck racks for the working farm. Light bars for the early morning runs. Winches for when things go sideways. And — critically — crush protection devices for quad bikes.

That last category matters more than most people want to talk about. Quad bike rollovers are still one of the leading causes of death and serious injury on New Zealand farms. Trax's answer is the award-winning Lifeguard crush protection device, and its next-generation companion the Quadguard. These aren't accessories. They're the difference between walking away and not. The right gear means the right outcome — and that's not marketing talk, it's a fact that too many farming families have learned the hard way.

A business built by people, for people

What makes the Trax story resonate isn't just the product range — it's the people behind it. The Dargaville factory is staffed by family members and locals who know what farming looks like from the inside. These are people who understand that a side-by-side isn't a toy — it's a working tool that needs to perform at 6am in the rain, just as well as it does at noon on a fine day.

That's always been the Trax philosophy: innovation, durability, and safety. Not as buzzwords, but as the three things that matter most when you're out in the back paddock and things get tough.

Season's open. Whether you're heading into a new dairy season, checking fences, mustering stock or just putting in the hours that this time of year demands — make sure your machine is sorted before the work starts.

Trax Equipment. Built here. For whatever New Zealand throws at it.

Look after yourself mate.

Visit traxequipment.co.nz